My friends and I used to love playing the higher difficulty courses to see who would get through the most levels before running out of lives. Secondly, some of the competitive spirit is gone from the multiplayer because of this decision. Now that lives are unlimited, persistence will eventually get you through, but now being stuck on a level and having to replay it level dozens and dozens of times, back-to-back, can be infuriating in a way that doesn’t reflect well on Monkey Ball. I would often find that I would get a game over on Monkey Ball, only to cruise through the level I got stuck at on the first attempt during my next run. This really worked to the game’s favour for a couple of reasons: Firstly, if you got stuck in a level, you’d get the game over screen sooner rather than later, and as disappointing as game overs can be, they actually give you a much-needed breather, because, in needing to replay all the previous levels again to get back up to the point that you got stuck at, you were getting variety and honing your mastery of monkey and ball. It also made collecting the bananas strewn around the level practically important too, since 100 bananas would mean another life, and another chance at the more difficult stages. The original game, being the arcade experience that it was, could be cruel in the way it handed out those game overs. ![]() This is an arcade game, where there are no more lives. The problem is, this decision rips the entire heart and soul out of the thing. SEGA does seem to have acknowledged this, and have made some changes to the way that the game plays to compensate. The experience is marginally better with the Pro controller, as the control sticks are larger and somewhat easier to direct with precision, but it still lacks the eight-directional “lock-in” from that Gamecube controller that was so important to the playability of these original titles It doesn’t sound like much, but in a game in which success is often measured in virtual millimetres, that can make all the difference. With the Switch, however, the ball would always deviate from a straight line by a degree or two. With the Gamecube controller, you’d just push the stick into the neat nook forwards and it would basically lock that movement angle (or lack thereof) in place for you. In fact, even heading forward in a properly straight line is difficult. In handheld mode, the Switch’s relatively small and sensitive analogue sticks make the precise movements of the ball – something that is absolutely essential for Monkey Ball – more trouble than it’s worth. The first problem is that as comprehensive as the remake is, the hardware is simply not built for this experience. In short, so much of Banana Mania is the Monkey Ball experience… at least, that’s how it initially appears. The fact you can play the bulk of this game without ever touching the story stuff, which has always a superflous waste of development resources, is a good thing indeed. ![]() There are also leaderboards, which reminds us all that it was Monkey Ball was always designed as an arcade experience. The option that challenges you to complete levels without picking up the bananas strewn around the level is a particularly compelling twist on the formula, given how desperately we’ve been trying to pick them up for 20 years now. There are all kinds of guest characters (from Sonic, to Yakuza’s Kiryu, to… Hello Kitty), and there are all kinds of alternative ways to play. It’s a loving remake, to be sure, and the developers have added a massive amount of stuff that makes this, in terms of raw content, the definitive Monkey Ball experience. Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a remake of the original two titles, as they were released on Gamecube. And, unfortunately, that tiny feature in the Gamecube controller makes all the difference. Notice something? If your response was “the case around the stick has eight little ridges”, then you’re looking at the biggest problem that Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania faces. Take a close look at the analogue sticks. ![]() When you have a moment spare, go and look at a picture of the Gamecube controller.
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